


Stress Injuries

by eerian_sadow



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Grooming, M/M, Mentions of canon typical violence, Minor Injuries, Pampering, playful banter, twincest if you turn your head and squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-16 12:17:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15436872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eerian_sadow/pseuds/eerian_sadow
Summary: Sideswipe getting hurt in combat is usually no big deal, but Sunstreaker is exhausted and a little clingy this time.





	Stress Injuries

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fuzipenguin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuzipenguin/gifts).



“All right, you two. Nothing’s serious, just Sideswipe’s wrenched knee.” Ratchet patted the red mech gently-- _tiredly_ \--on the shoulder before handing him a small stack of pain relieving patches. “It’s nothing you don’t already know how to take care of, so just baby it for a day or two and get some rest. I’ll put you in for light duty with Prowl and I want you back for a checkup on Thursday.”

Both twins nodded. Then Sideswipe asked, “You need an escort back to your room now that everyone’s stable? We don’t mind making sure you get there all right.”

“Hot Spot and Blades have already decided that First Aid and I need carried home, but thank you.” The medic smiled softly, the way he did when he talked about any of the Protectobots. “I’m probably getting cuddled within an inch of my life tonight.”

“You deserve a good cuddle.” Sideswipe grinned before easing himself carefully off the medical berth. “I’ll call Hoist if I need anything.”

“We’re not leaving til you do, though” Sunstreaker added, stepping up beside his brother so that the red mech could lean on him. 

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you two thought that I couldn’t take care of myself.” Ratchet laughed and made his way out the door of the examination room.

The twins followed. “We know you can, but you shouldn’t have to.”

They walked slowly back into the main room of the medical bay, where First Aid was standing with his brothers and taking a cube of energon from Grapple. Hoist was standing over Ironhide’s offline form, taking readings and checking the old warrior’s vitals.

“As you can see, my escort is right on time.” Ratchet turned back to look at the twins again. “Back here, Thursday. Or I will send Swoop to carry you in.”

“Geeze, Ratch. It’s like I skipped my last followup or something.” The red mech gave the medic an unapologetic grin. “Thursday, I promise. Sleep well, Ratch.”

“Good night, Sideswipe. Sunstreaker.”

“Night.” Sunstreaker mirrored his brother’s grin a moment later. “Dream of me dragging him in here on time Thursday.”

The Protectobots stared, but Ratchet laughed. Then he ushered the younger mechs toward the door and waved goodbye to Hoist almost absently. 

Their favorite medic taken care of, the twins made their own way to the door and out into the hallway. Once they were away from prying optics--all but Red Alert’s anyway--the red mech took one of his pain patches, peeled the backing off and stuck it against his injured knee. 

He sighed as the disrupter scrambled the pain signals and his lower leg went numb. “It’s not bad,” he assured his twin immediately. “It just hurts to stand on it.”

“We could have gotten you one of the chairs,” Sunstreaker told him. “Now I gotta hold you up the whole way back.”

“I promise to buff out any scratches.”

“Sure, after you’ve recharged for two days straight.”

“No, tonight.” The red mech traced a finger along a scratch on Sunstreaker’s chest, one he knew the gold mech had gotten while dragging him off the battlefield. “Promise.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- 

“Sit. I'll get you a ration.”

Sideswipe sighed and did as ordered. “I told you we could stop by the mess. It's not bad now that I've got the pain patch.”

“The fact that you used the patch tells me it is.” Sunstreaker crossed his arms and glared. “Do not move from that chair until I get back.”

“All right, all right.” The red mech held his hands up in defeat. “You get the energon. I'll wait right here.”

“Good. Don't be an idiot for once.” The yellow mech glared at his brother for a moment longer before turning back to the door. “I'll be back in few minutes.”

“Sure, bro.” Sideswipe stretched his injured knee out and leaned his head against the back of the chair. “See you in a few.”

Sunstreaker nodded and stepped into the hallway. The door clicked closed behind him and quiet blanketed the room. Sideswipe listened intently for a full minute for his brother’s footsteps. 

Once he was sure Sunstreaker wasn't going to immediately double back for something he'd forgotten, Sideswipe carefully stood back up. Then he made his way--with barely a limp--to the bucket where they kept the cleaning supplies. He pulled out the wax and polish, thought for a moment and added the spray cleaner, and then reached for several of the softest of Sunstreaker’s polishing cloths. 

When he was happy with the supplies he'd gathered, Sideswipe made his way back to the chair and sat back down. His knee twinged, even through the pain patch, and he admitted to himself that his brother might have been right about staying in the chair.

It would be worth it, though, to feel his twin relax under his hands as Sideswipe massaged away his stress and worry.

Carefully, listening for any popping or grinding, or the scraping that would signal parts out of alignment, he stretched his leg out in front of himself. Then Sideswipe leaned his head against the back of the chair and offlined his optics so that he could relax a little before his brother came back with the energon.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- 

“Slaggit, Sides, you promised!”

Sideswipe came up from a light sleep state to see his brother glaring at him from the door. “I fibbed. I knew you wouldn’t let me give you a good rubdown if I didn’t get the stuff while you were gone. Not with how much of a nannybot you’re being today.”

“I’m worried about you! That’s not the same thing!”

“Bro, you wouldn’t even take me to get my own energon, and I’ve done that while I was _missing_ a leg.” Sideswipe shook his head. “You’re nannying.”

Sunstreaker continued glaring. “Fine. I’m being a nannybot, but you’re being an idiot. Ratchet said to baby your knee!”

“And I did! I was careful when I got the supplies. I’m not an invalid, Sunny.”

Sunstreaker sighed. “No, just a dummy. We can’t wake Ratchet up to fix it if you make it worse.”

“I won’t make it worse.” Sideswipe gestured for his brother to come closer. “Now, come over here and sit. I know you’re tired from hauling in everyone who got hurt, and I promised you a polish.”

“You’re tired too,” The golden mech protested, stepping into the room properly. The door slid closed behind him, and he turned to lock it before crossing the room to his twin. “I’m not going to hold you to it.”

“No, I promised.” Sideswipe smiled as his brother held out a cube of energon. “And I meant that one. You need it.” 

“Fine.” Sunstreaker sat down after his brother took his cube. Then he scooted back against the chair when the red mech shifted his legs so that the yellow mech could settle between his knees. “Don’t you dare fall into recharge halfway through.”

“I won’t.” Sideswipe chuckled and sipped his energon. “You know where I sleep.”

“Damn right I do.” Sunstreaker lifted his own cube and took a drink. Then he leaned his head to the side and rested it on his brother’s thigh. “Sorry I’ve been a pain. Being the only one who could help the medics carry the wounded is harder than I thought it would be. Especially when Cliffjumper is being Cliffjumper.”

“You save him just to spite the little fragger, huh?” Sideswipe rested a hand on his brother’s head and rubbed his thumb soothingly along the top while he sipped his energon. “You did good out there. I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks.”

They sat together like that for nearly an hour, even after the energon was gone. Sunstreaker relaxed by millimeters, plating that neither of them realized had been flared with stress settled back into place and his engine slowed from a strained whine back into its normal high performance purr. Sideswipe decided to just enjoy having his brother so close, and didn’t press for the clean and polish he had promised the yellow mech.

He had thought that his twin had fallen into recharge, though, until Sunstreaker sat up suddenly and held his hand out.

“Give me the spray cleaner before this spot drives me crazy.”

“I thought I was supposed to be detailing you.” The red mech reached for the bottle and a cloth, handing them over without any real argument.

“I’ve been staring at this for almost an hour. You are not going to bed with that muck on your leg. Or anywhere else.” Sunstreaker took the cleaner and stared spraying almost immediately. Sideswipe was left holding the cleaning cloth with an amused smile.

This was his favorite version of his brother: totally focused on making things beautiful. Or at least beautiful again.

Sunstreaker plucked the cloth out of his hand a moment later and started rubbing. The dirt that had bothered him so much wiped away almost immediately, but he yellow mech wouldn’t stop there and Sideswipe knew it.

With an affectionate smile, he leaned back in the chair and let his brother work. Sunstreaker might be tired, but he wouldn’t let that stop him now that he had started cleaning his twin.

The angle was awkward as Sunstreaker worked, but he didn’t let it deter him. When Sideswipe’s upper leg was clean, he moved on to the red mech’s undamaged knee. The yellow mech’s touch was gentle on the joint, and his fingers checked for strains Ratchet might have missed just before the cleaning cloth passed over the same areas. When he was satisfied with the condition of his brother’s good knee, Sunstreaker moved on to Sideswipe’s lower leg. It was cleaned with the same quick efficiency as his upper leg, before the golden twin looked down at his foot with a frown. 

“You better have some extra cloths for your feet. And _not_ my good ones.”

Sideswipe onlined his optics and gave his brother a sheepish grin. “I wasn’t thinking about feet when I got the supplies. I was more worried about those scratches in your chest.”

Sunstreaker tossed the cleaning cloth in his hand at his twin’s face with an annoyed groan. The red mech caught it as it flew, grin still in place. “Should have known you’d forget something. Don’t move.”

“No sir.” Sideswipe’s grin turned cheeky as he watched his brother pick himself up from the floor. “The scrubbies are on the shelf if you need them.”

“Scrubbies?” Sunstreaker gave him a confused look.

“Yeah, the sponges with the scrub pads on the other side. Wheeljack’s called them that for ages. Guess I just picked it up.”

“Scrubbies.” The yellow mech shook his head. “Whatever works, I guess. Where’s that box of rags Carly gave me for Christmas?”

“Under the Nintendo. Remember, i was using it to hold the power cord in place?”

“Oh yeah.” Sunstreaker walked to the storage shelf and grabbed a scrub sponge and then made his way to Sideswipe’s gaming station. He moved his brother’s console carefully and then opened the box of rags. He pulled out a few, then closed the box and put the console back. “Sorry, you’re going to have to fix the cord again.”

“It’s okay. I’ll take care of it tomorrow. I don’t think either of us is in the mood for Mario Kart anyway.”

“No, not really.” Sunstreaker returned to his brother’s side and knelt back between his legs with the same exaggerated care he had used earlier to keep from jostling Sideswipe’s injured knee. Then he held out one hand and ordered, “Give me your foot.”

Briefly, Sideswipe considered being funny and giving Sunstreaker the foot on his unwashed leg. Now that Sunny was in a better mood, he wanted to be a little playful. As he debated, though, his twin’s expression began to turn irritated. Quickly, Sideswipe lifted the foot on his clean leg and let Sunstreaker grip it by the heel to hold him in place.

Teasing Sunstreaker clearly needed to wait until they had both gotten some recharge. Especially if he was missing his brother’s signals like that.

“ _Thank_ you.” Sunstreaker sprayed the cleaner and applied the scrub pad to the bottom of Sideswipe’s foot with slightly less care than he had used on his twin’s leg. The red mech might have been offended, but after a few brisk scrubs, he felt something loosen and fall away from an adjustable plate he hadn’t even realized was impacted.

He felt a wave of relief as the plate snapped back into place and relieved the pressure on one of the terrain sensors in his foot. The sudden absence of the pressure felt so good it was almost euphoric, and Sunstreaker smirked at whatever expression Sideswipe was making. The yellow mech kept scrubbing, though, while the red mech ran a sensor check on his other foot to make sure the problem wasn’t duplicated.

After a few minutes of scrubbing, and the removal of a few more layers of post-combat gunk, Sunstreaker set the scrub sponge aside and picked up one of the rags. He sprayed his twin’s foot again, top and bottom this time, and then rubbed all traces of gunk and dirty cleanser away.

“Better?” The yellow mech asked, smirk still firmly in place and contrasted by the thumb he was rubbing gently against Sideswipe’s ankle.

“I didn’t even know that was hurting,” the red mech replied. “It’s a lot better. Thanks, bro.”

“No problem.” Sunstreaker turned his attention to his brother’s injured leg. “I don’t think I can clean this one without taking off your pain patch.”

“It’s all right. Ratch gave me a bunch. I’ve got like seven left.”

The golden mech studied his twin for a moment before nodding. “All right, but if it hurts too much tell me. Don’t be a dummy.”

“I will.” Sideswipe smiled and stretched his injured leg out. “I trust you. You’ll be as careful with my leg as you would your own.”

“Twice as careful. I’m not bringing you energon for more than two days just because you were dumb.” Sunstreaker sniffed in irritation, but he was smiling softly.

“Lies, you love me too much to let me starve.”

“Yeah, I do. But you’re still a dummy sometimes.”

“Fair point.”

Sunstreaker started working again, beginning with a spray if cleanser to the top of Sideswipe’s leg and a careful rub down with the good cleaning cloth. The red mech leaned back in the chair again, resting his head against the back and watching his brother work.

His twin always had such steady, careful hands.

“Okay, I'm going to pull it off.”

Sideswipe nodded as Sunstreaker’s fingers moved to the pain patch resting just above his knee joint. “Go for it. If I lose any paint, we can touch it up tomorrow.”

“if you lose any paint, we'll touch it up after you stop needing the patches.” the yellow mech picked at the patch until the edge lifted slightly, then pulled it off in one quick yank.

Sideswipe winced at the sting. “Ow. I forgot how good that glue is.”

“Ratchet doesn't do things by halves.” Sunstreaker inspected his twin's plating. “Make sure you put the new patches in the same spot, because you need that touch up.” 

“Yes, sir.” Sideswipe gave him a crooked grin, and the golden mech shook his head with his own small smile. “I'm glad this is helping you feel better, bro.”

“Me too. Next time Optimus hauls Ratchet's patients, Megatron or no.”

“Especially if it's Ironhide. I think he's doubled his mass since we got to Earth.”

“And Gears can walk _himself_ back, if he's going to keep being such an ungrateful fragger. He chipped my top coat when he threw that tantrum.”

Sideswipe reached for another rag and held it up. “I can take care of that, if you're ready.”

“I am _not_ leaning you half washed, Sideswipe.” Sunstreaker sprayed the cleaner again, carefully, on his twin’s knee. “So just lean back and let me work.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Sideswipe was loose and relaxed when he turned around to look at Sunstreaker. He felt better now than he had in at least a few days, even with the knee pain, and he was ready to return the favor for his twin. 

Sunstreaker, on the other hand, looked ready to fall into recharge on his feet. His optics were dim and the polishing cloth was slipping out of his fingers as he looked his brother over. “You’re getting a real wash and polish in the morning. You have streaks.”

“Yeah, that’s probably because you’re ready to pass out.” Sideswipe took a step forward, plucking the cloth out of the air as it started to fall to the floor. He tucked it in his subspace so that there would be less mess to offend Sunstreaker’s senses when they came out of recharge, then he reached for his brother’s arm and slung it over his shoulder. “Come on, you need to recharge.”

“I’ll get gunk all over the berth.” The yellow mech tried to pull away.

Sideswipe pulled him closer, taking advantage of his brother’s exhaustion to manhandle him. “Stop that. You need to _recharge_. I’ll wash the berth tomorrow.”

“But your knee!” Sunstreaker protested as Sideswipe took a step toward their berth.

“I’ll ask Bluestreak, if the pain’s too bad. You know he likes to help when one of us is hurt. It’ll be fine.” The red mech grinned. “Besides, you already said I need a real wash in the morning, right? You can get all cuddly and not even worry about my finish tonight.”

“Fine.” Sunstreaker sighed and leaned his head to the side to rest it on his twin’s shoulder. “First thing after energon, though. I don’t want you to forget.”

“I won’t.” Sideswipe grinned and sent a quick message to Bluestreak. He would happily swap a shift or a bottle of the Towers blend high grade that Mirage had taught him to make if the sniper would swing by after energon and clean for them. Tomorrow, he wanted to spoil his twin the way he hadn’t gotten to tonight.

Bluestreak sent back a quick affirmative and his grin became a wide smile.

“Tomorrow’s going to be a good day.” The red mech led his brother carefully across the room and into the adjoining suite where they kept their berth. He settled the yellow mech on the edge of the berth and watched as Sunstreaker flopped backward on top of the blankets. He shook his head and poked his twin in the side. “Hey, you’re supposed to go under the blankets. And up by the pillows. I can’t cuddle if you’re down here at the end of the berth.”

Sunstreaker unshuttered one optic to glare at him before turning over and crawling up to the pillows at the head of the bed. He flopped down again, burying his face in the soft material. 

“Good enough,” Sideswipe told him. He pulled a fresh pain patch from his subspace, applied it over the damaged paint on his knee and then climbed _carefully_ into the berth next to his brother. He snuggled against Sunstreaker’s side and the golden mech sighed happily. Sideswipe heard his twin’s systems idle down into recharge mode and he smiled. Then he pressed a kiss to the back of Sunstreaker’s head and initiated his own recharge protocols. “Night, bro. Love you.”

Sunstreaker sighed again and mumbled, “Love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> THIS FIC!! ACCIDENTALLY A SPIN-OFF, TOO!!
> 
> Keep an eye out for cute Protectobots/Ratchet in the near future!


End file.
